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The 12 Books of Christmas

A pair from Stephen Vogler
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The snow shovels and boots have been unearthed from the garage, staff parties are being booked, and yes, those are Christmas decorations on display at each and every big box store. Believe it or not, the holiday season is already upon us (or at the very least, bearing down like a freight train). This year, rather than revert to the standard, safe go-to gift certificates for folks on your shopping list, we recommend buying a book. Yes, that's right, remember those relics? They can make for a very thoughtful, and relatively inexpensive, gift for just about anyone. This year, we've compiled a list of 12 recent literary releases from local writers that will entertain and intrigue kids, adventurers, aspiring chefs, sports enthusiasts and amateur historians. Happy reading!

 

Only In Whistler: Tales of a Mountain Town

By Stephen Vogler, 240pp, Harbour Publishing

Review by G.D. Maxwell

You don't meet a lot of adults who grew up in Whistler. There are two reasons for this. First, the town mostly didn't exist until the late 1960s. Closer to the truth though is the fact Whistler is the kind of town you don't really have to grow up in at all. Kind of Neverland of the North.

And while he's taken on most - but by no means all - of the responsibilities of adulthood, local writer, musician, soapbox-stumper, husband, father and, well, let's be honest, faux grownup, Stephen Vogler has penned a marvelously sepia-tinged, nostalgic memoir of what it was like to age in lockstep with this town.

Like most of the best things in life, the Vogler family's move to Whistler was accidental. The family were weekend warriors for a number of years in the early 1970s, driving the highway - a highway in name only - from their home in Richmond. An unplanned cliff-drop in a 1969 Olds Cutlass on one of their commutes led to the decision to relocate. With an opening for a caretaker at Tyrol Lodge, they packed up and joined the other 500 residents of the nascent ski resort.

For a 12-year-old boy, moving to Whistler in 1976 was as close to heaven as anyone still breathing is likely to get. Except for one tiny detail: the winter of '76 was the year the snow didn't come.

With shinny on the lake replacing sliding down the mountain, it was an opportune time for bonding with the town's colourful characters - a mix of transplanted Europeans and hippie-jock ski bums - and exploring the myriad potential mischief. Stephen embraced both with gusto.

Spanning the three decades from that snowless winter to the blowout party and ultimate destruction of the Boot, Only in Whistler tells some of the town's most well-known - and most inaccurately remembered - stories with more touchpoints of reality than most of us have ever heard.

Want the real skinny on Dusty the horse? Chapter three'll set you straight. Want to get all misty-eyed remembering the Espresso Express? The real story and the founding characters come to life in chapter two.

Only in Whistler reads like a historical Who's Who with a healthy dose of What's What thrown in for good measure. Heavily favouring his own formative experiences, Stephen gives us an adolescent's eye-view of some of Whistler's early cultural trendsetters, the writers, musicians, barflies, businesspeople and colourful characters that make this place special to those of us who live here and enigmatic to those who don't.

Stephen's descriptions of Dusty's Last Stand and the final days of the Boot Pub will make you wonder what the people who decided to tear down those iconic, run-down bars were thinking. His musings on being a working stiff will give the reader a greater appreciation for what it takes to make it in this town. And his rambling reminiscences with Roger Moxley about plying the placid waters of Alta Lake in the party barge will make you want to fire up the blender and kick back with a boat drink.

Whether you live here or just wish you did, Only in Whistler will make you feel more like you belong and happy you've never completely grown up.

 

Top of the Pass: Whistler and the Sea-to-Sky Country

By Stephen Vogler, 144 pp, Harbour Publishing

Review by Holly Fraughton

Vogler has been hard at work capturing the beauty and spirit of Whistler (and the surrounding region) on paper. He released Top of the Pass in 2007, working with local photographers Toshi Kawano and Bonny Makarewicz to offer outsiders (and insiders) an in-depth look at life in the Sea to Sky corridor.

The combination of vivid, candid photographs and Vogler's insider's edge on simple, descriptive text is effective, working together to paint a stunning and accurate portrait of the community. Broken up into five main sections - Top of the Pass (an intro, of sorts), Whistler, Neighbouring Communities, Recreation in the Sea-to-Sky Country, and Festivals and Cultural Events - Vogler taps into virtually every facet of the area that wouldn't make it into your average guidebook. For example, most outside authors wouldn't know about the rich history of Tapley's Pub, and may instead opt to profile a newer, trendier establishment.

He's also made a point of including the First Nations heritage of the region, profiling the Lil'wat and Squamish people.

The decision to work with two local photographers with a real eye for natural beauty was something of a stroke of genius, because it transforms the book into an easy-to-flip-through read to leave on the coffee table.

It makes a great gift for a new Whistlerite, or a family member back home who might not understand the strong lure of the community. You can pick up a copy at Bizarre Bazaar this weekend, or check Armchair Books.